The Power of One
by OswinHardy
Summary: Our usual band of witches find someone who can help them, or can they? With a few twists and turns, find out who this new OC is, and what they bring to the witches. This is the story that introduces my new character, and this should be read first so you understand who the character is. A character profile is available on my profile. I hope you enjoy.
1. Rat tails

Phoebe and Prue stand by the cooker, a pot simmering slightly with various herbs and other items in there, bubbling slightly. Prue picked up a rat tail, eyeing it sceptically.

"Look, Piper can do this, so we can, right?" Phoebe asked Prue, who was still looking at the rat tail,.

"Of course we can." Prue replies, snapping out of her daze and dropping the rat tail into the pot. Both witches lean over the pot, waiting to see what would happen. "Nothing's hap-" Prue was stopped mid-sentence as the concoction exploded in a cloud of smoke, knocking the two sisters back, into the kitchen table.

"Dammit!" Phoebe coughs, bending over at the horrible smell.

"Wha- what are you guys doing?" Speaks a voice from the door. Prue looks up as the cloud dissipates, and she spots Piper, one eyebrow raised.

"Trying to make a potion, duh." Prue replies, upset over the failure of their exploits. Piper frowns and steps into the kitchen.

"Watch it, missy." Piper pats Phoebe on the back, who stops coughing shortly after. "What are you trying to make? I can help." Prue glanced over at Phoebe, and Phoebe shrugged back at her. Prue turned to face Piper.

"A love potion." Prue admitted. Piper scoffed in laughter.

"With a rat tail? Forget it, I'm not helping you." She turned and started towards the door, but stopped when the youngest Halliwell reached out for her sleeve.

"Please, please, please?" Phoebe asked, giving her best puppy dog eyes to Piper, who eventually caved.

"Fine. But, we have to go get new rat tails. Come on, I'll drive. Piper leaves, grabbing the keys off the table, and Prue closely follows, leaving Phoebe for a few seconds, who clutches at her head as a premonition hits her of a house exploding. Her mind cleared up to Piper yelling. "Phoebe! Come on!" Phoebe would have to make sure to tell them at some point.

Piper picks up a bin lid, looking for a rat behind a bar, when Phoebe squeaks and jumps back.

"Eww, this is gross!" Phoebe complained, wiping her hands on her jeans.

"Why are we doing this?" Prue complained, joining Phoebe.

"Because you wasted perfectly good rat tails." Piper lifted up another bin lid and jumped backwards, shrieking, and she throws her hands open, freezing the rat that ran over her feet.

"I'm sorry, was that a shriek, 'metal heart'?" Prue gasped, mocking Piper with the nickname.

"I do not have a metal heart. I have a tough middle sister exterior that rats can break through. And spiders." Piper glared at her sisters.

"That's just-" Prue started to mock Piper for her fear, when a massive explosion sounded from the street. "What was that?!"

"Something close by, let's go!" Piper almost shouted, innocents come first, always.

"Piper wait!" Phoebe shouted. Piper stopped to turn round. "Unfreeze the rat."

"Oh, yeah." Piper nodded and waved her hand at the rat, and it blew up. "…Same difference."

"Come on!" Prue shouted, pulling the other two towards the explosion.


	2. Sparking hands

They ran towards the scene, and standing before them was part of what looked like their manor, but blue, and half of it was missing. They could see the debris from the building scattered across the road, burning pieces of wood, and water pipes leaking out over the road.

"Is anyone hurt?!" Phoebe shouted, staying back, putting out a bit of fire next to her. Piper looked around, scanning the area quickly, before glancing at Phoebe.

"I don't know. Did you see anything about this? Anything at all?" Piper hurriedly asked Phoebe, looking straight at her.

"Well I-" Phoebe started, only for Prue to interrupt and run off towards a piece of debris.

"Over there! We have to help the innocent!" Prue ran over, and as she got closer, she noticed blue electricity sparking over the hand infront of her. "Piper, help!"

"I'm coming. Come on, Pheebs." Piper said, jogging over. "Can you move the stone?" Prue tried, but was unable to move the stone over the innocent.

"I can't lift it, Piper, it's no use." Prue sighed. Piper wasn't listening, and she tried to push the debris. "What can we do?" Piper looked up, smiling.

"LEO!" She shouted, towards the sky. They could hear sirens now, a fire truck, most likely. Within a few seconds, Leo orbed in, looking around at the exploded manor.

"Yes? Oh, what happened here?" Leo asked, looking around at the devastation. Prue turned him round and pointed to the hand.

"I got a pulse, get her out." Prue commanded. Leo looked at her, and at the hand, then back at Prue.

"Her hand, it's, sparking." Leo said, unsure if he'd get an electric shock or not. Prue narrowed her eyes at Leo. "Okay, fine." He reached down and grabbed the innocent's hand, orbing out with the innocent, and orbing back in about 5 meters to the right. Phoebe was the first to make it over to Leo and the innocent. They could now see the innocent was a woman in her 20's, with blond hair. Piper too ran over, they needed to leave before the fire service got there.

"Is she okay? Heal her, Leo." Piper commanded, leaving Prue over at the rubble, not noticing her bend down and pick up a necklace. The necklace has a symbol, much like their own, but with circles instead.

"Hey, Piper…?" Prue asked, Piper turning round quickly.

"What?!" Piper said, being unintentionally short with Prue. Prue didn't care about Piper's attitude, and just held up the necklace.

"Ring any bells?" Prue asked. Piper swivelled back to face the woman, looking at her, then looking at Phoebe.

"We need to get her back to the house. I don't think she's an innocent." She turned to Leo next. "Pause with the healing, take her back to the manor, heal her there. We'll be back soon. Quick." Leo orbed out, and the three witches ran into the alley they came from just in time to see a fire truck pull up next to the house.

**I know it's short, but I have other stories with this OC in, and I had to produce this story quickly, so I can get out my better stories. There is much more of this story to come, but my writers block comes and goes, as does my hunger. **


	3. Woman on the couch

**I know, I know. It's short, but this is the intro story. And this would have been up quicker, but my Charmed DVD's arrived, and Piper being a Wendigo was too funny for me to miss by writing.**

The Halliwell's and Leo surround the couch, looking over at the sleeping possible-not-innocent they saved. Prue was thinking about the dangers to her sisters, Piper was thinking about having another person in the house to look after, and feed. Phoebe was thinking about her premonition, why didn't she say anything? Leo looked on at the woman, wondering about the Elders, and if they knew anything about this woman.

"So I finished healing her a while ago, she will wake up soon." Leo says to the group, challenging the silence in the room.

"Right, okay… Pheebs? What, what were you talking to me about before Prue interrupted?" Piper asked, turning round to face Phoebe, pursing her lips, raising her left eyebrow.

"Oh, I, um, I saw the house explode, no biggie, does anyone want a drink?" Phoebe asked, very quickly, not giving anyone time to digest what she just said.

"Wha- wha- wha- Saw? Saw the house? And didn't tell us?" Prue accused, calling for Piper to play the middle child and peace keeper again.

"Why don't we check out the necklace?" Piper asked, distracting them from their tension growing.

"I can do that." Leo said, stepping forward and taking the necklace from Prue, orbing out before Piper can say goodbye. Everyone reverts back to silence, facing the unconscious blond woman.

"So… Love potion…?" Prue asked, smirking playfully.

xcharmedxcharmedxcharmedx

Leo orbed back in, looking around for the witches, finding Piper cooking, Prue pacing, and Phoebe sitting down with a coffee, all in the kitchen.

"The Elders told me this belongs to the Hardy's." Leo said, causing everyone to look at him.

"Uh, the Hardy's, sweetie, you gotta explain more than that." Piper said, walking over.

"The Hardy's are like you three. Witches." Leo replied, mostly to Piper.

"Yeah, the 'you three' didn't need the clarification, Leo." Prue said.

"Anyway… turns out they lived in the house that exploded. Now she," Leo waves his hand back at the room with the woman in. "is the only Hardy left. Even their Whitelighter died." Leo said, sorrow in his words for his fallen, colleague.

"Oh my god, what killed them?" Asked Phoebe, her voice catching in her throat.

"Three demons and a Darklighter were sent there, one demon didn't return." Leo said, a slight uplift in his voice.

"So, we have a witch. In the house. With us. Power of 4?" Piper asked hopefully.

"No, I'm sorry, I think the Power of 3 only works with Halliwell's. She's not a Halliwell." Prue said, regretfully.

"Still, a witch. Yay. Can we keep her?" Phoebe asked, almost jumping with happiness.

"She's not a dog, Phoebe. She's a woman." Prue corrected, glaring slightly.

"Ah, but a woman with no-where to go. A person with powers, who fights demons." Piper corrected Prue, smirking.

"…Fine, I guess so." Prue sighed. Why did Piper have to be on Phoebe's side for this. Whoever got Piper's vote, won.

"So we can keep her?!" Phoebe asked, over-joyous. Piper is about to answer, when a sound emits from the lounge. All 3 open their eyes and look around the doorway.

"Where the hell…?" The woman said, looking around.

"Screw it. I'm going in, seize the day, right?" Before Prue can grab Piper's top, she walks into the room, towards the woman. "Hi, I'm-"

"Stay back!" The woman jumps over the back of the sofa, throwing her hands towards Piper, fire exploding out of the end towards Piper.

**Oh, I'm mean! Cliffhanger! **


	4. Inner workings

The fire freezes in the air, about a centimeter from Piper's face, Piper's eyes open slightly wider than normal, her hands up. The woman behind the couch looked at Piper, eyes wide open, crouching down so her nose was on the back of the sofa, shivering.

"We're here to help you." Piper said, stepping around the fire, not wanting it to start back up and burn her.

"How are you doing that? You- you froze my fire. You- you shouldn't be able to do that." She said, stuttering over her words.

"We're witches too, Miss Hardy." Prue said, stepping in. "And I don't think you can exactly talk about not being able to do something." Prue grabbed Phoebe's shirt and pulled her into the room.

"Doesn't explain how you know my name." Miss Hardy replied, still behind the sofa, her hands now holding onto the top of the sofa, her nose still just poking over the sofa.

"We're the Halliwell's. We saved you from the explosion at your manor." Phoebe said, trying to make her understand.

"M-m-m-y m-manor? Where's Olivia a-and Odette?!" She asked, standing up, almost pushing the sofa out of the way."Where?!" Her demeanor changed entirely.

"I'm sorry…" Leo stepped in, moving beside Piper. "They're dead…"

"No." She said, shaking her head. "No, this is a demon trick. You guys aren't witches." She stepped back, hitting her hip on a table. "You're demons. Guys aren't witches. You can't fool me."

"I'm a whitelighter." Leo replied, stepping forwards.

"Prove it. Demon." She said, holding her hands out, ready for any tricks. Leo shook his head and orbed out, orbing in a few seconds later next to the woman. In her surprise, she jumped back, falling over a chair, sitting on it. "…You really are witches?"

"Yes, we are. And we're going to help you." Prue stated, walking over to the woman, holding the back of the chair. Piper too walked over, kneeling in front of the woman.

"What's your name?" Piper asked, holding the woman's knees.

"Oswin." She replied, frowning. I was the oldest of my sisters. Now I guess I'm the oldest, youngest and middle sister, right? Oh, god, what about Karl?! He was-" Oswin asked, standing up quickly, almost kneeing Piper in the face, before Piper lifts her hands up to protect her face, and Oswin freezes, mid-standing up from the chair.

"She. She froze. I thought witches didn't freeze." Piper stood up, turning to face Prue, and then Phoebe, before turning to Leo, also frozen. "Oh, oh! Oops." She steps back from Oswin, and waves her hand, both Oswin and Leo unfreezing.

"-Our whitelighter! How, how did you get there?" Oswin asked, frowning at Piper.

"I- I froze you. By accident." Piper said, with an awkward smile. "But anyway… can we go up to the attic? See your powers?"

"Of course. Sure." Oswin nodded, following Phoebe and Piper, Leo and Prue following afterwards. They arrived at the attic, and the book glowed slightly, unnoticed by any of them. All 4 gathered around Oswin.

"Go on, show us what you can do." Phoebe said, almost bouncing with anticipation.

"Well, you saw fire, both hands. Uh, water, right hand." She shot out her right hand, and water shot out, drenching the wall. "Oops. Well, I can dry that off. Wind. Left hand." She did the same as she did with her right hand, only with her left, and wind came rushing out, drying the wall. "And that's it. Well, there's one other thing. Not really a power. But I can- I'll just show you." Oswin clapped her hands together in a sphere, opening them again shortly after, to show a snowball resting in her hands. "Not a power, just a, nice, side-effect of the cold water and the cold wind. Cold enough to produce snow." Oswin put her hands down by her side, waving her hands at her hips slightly.

"Those are some nice powers…" Phoebe said. "And I got stuck with seeing people dying…"

"Yeah, but we need some offensive powers, so we're glad you're here. Now, let's go kick demon ass." Piper said, smiling.

"Got it." Oswin said, stretching her hands out by inter-locking her fingers, turning her palms away from her and pushing her hands away from her, when a lightning bolt flies out and hits the book stand holding The Book of Shadows. "I- I err, I didn't know, I could do, that…" All 4 of the occupants looked at the book stand, then back at Oswin. "Is your book alright?"

"You grab the book, I'll hoover up." Prue said to Oswin, eyes narrowing slightly, doing a test without saying so. She had to make sure. She watched as Oswin went over to the book, leaning down, holding her hand out to get the book, but the book's shield quickly activating, throwing Oswin backwards into the wall. Piper and Phoebe turned round quickly to look at Oswin, eyes wide in astonishment, while Prue looked at her, not as surprised. "Oh, can't touch the book? Shame."

"You're evil?" Phoebe asked, really sad, her brows creasing.

"The book protects itself from evil, which you must be." Piper backed up Phoebe's point.

"Explain yourself." Prue said, stepping forward, moving her hand so Oswin was picked up, off the floor. "Now!"

"Or get vanquished, missy." Piper said, picking up the book.

"I'm a good witch! Honest! I just… I had to do something bad, to save myself from death…" Oswin said, defending herself from the angry witches.

"What 'something bad'? And I knew something was up when I froze you. Good witches don't freeze." Piper said, holding her hands up again.

"I used a spell wrong, and instead of vanquishing the demon attacking me, I absorbed it. It took up camp in my head." Oswin replied, hanging her head. "I'm part demon, I guess…"

"_We…_" Prue motioned to her sisters. "Need to talk." She let go of Oswin, dropping her to the ground. Oswin looked up, sorrow on her face. The sisters left, leaving Leo to watch Oswin.

**That's it for today, I'll try and get the next chapter up soon, promise.**

**On a side note, in Centennial Charmed, I imagine that Piper no longer helped Oswin to control her inner demon, and the demon took over.**

**Oswin as a witch: Ke$ha.  
Oswin as a demon: A female version of Balthazar but blue instead of red.**


	5. Damn vase

"She's part demon, Piper!" Prue shouted, whirling round to face Piper at the bottom of the stairs. Phoebe and Piper placed their hands on Prue's shoulders.

"Not part demon, Prue. Good witch, with a demon stuck in her head." Phoebe tried to calm Prue, but to no avail as Prue swept their hands off.

"How do we know that, Phoebe, how?!" Prue almost shouted, a vase dropping to the floor close by, showing Prue's anger.

"Whoa." Piper quickly froze the vase, just above the floor. "Prue, Phoebe got a premonition. And premonitions are only for innocents we have to save."

"She's not an innocent. Innocents don't have magical powers and demons running around in their heads!" Prue exclaimed, facing away from Piper and Phoebe, walking over to the sofa.

"She need our help, it's not like we can do anything about it, can we?" Phoebe said, walking over and sitting on the arm of the chair, snuggling Prue to her.

"Yeah, think about it Prue, she could help us fight demons, and we could use the firepower." Piper said, too moving towards the sofa, ignoring her hold on the vase, with it dropping to the floor once again.

"Whoa." The vase stops about a centimetre above the ground, surrounded in ice. "That's a nice vase, you wanna be careful." Oswin said timidly, stepping over the ice she made on the floor. "I can sense I'm not wanted here. I- I'll go."

"Go where? You have no house." Piper stated, still standing next to the sofa.

"You don't need to remind me… Pipper?" Oswin asked, frowning slightly.

"Piper. And you should stay. It's safer." Piper said, walking over to Oswin.

"Is it? I can't use your Book of Shadows, and I have an upper-level demon in my mind. How is it safer?" Oswin stated bluntly, as Prue turned around, sighing.

"We'll sort that out, but right now, you're being hunted by powerful demons, and being by yourself is a death wish." Prue said, finding words to help her, her anger subsiding.

"Fine, but when the demons find out I'm still alive, then they will-" Oswin gets interrupted by a huge explosion, sounding at the front of the manor, blowing the doors off as they fly behind Oswin, smashing the vase surrounded by ice. "-Attack here."

"Run!" Shouted Phoebe, Piper moving up her hands to freeze whatever it was.

**I know it's short, but I am so busy, and I have about 50 ideas for other stories, but this one will be over soon, and the better ones will be coming out. Also check by profile for a facebook link to my page, where I will be posting updates and helpful pictures for you.**


	6. Demon fight

The 4 witches jumped behind the sofa as a fireball exploded on the arm of the sofa, bursting into flames. Oswin threw her arm around the side of the sofa, ice encasing where the flames were, putting them out.

"You know, that's really going to come in handy." Piper exclaimed. "Kinda wish mine worked on these guys, though!"

"Come out witch, we will get you. Even if we have to kill everyone here." One of the two demons said, pacing around, both of them edging their way around the sofa to get to the witches.

"Oh, you won't, because there's four of us, and two of you." Oswin said, trying to focus on where the footsteps were coming from.

"There were three of you before, the elemental charmed ones, and we killed two of them." The other demon countered, sneering as he got a fireball in his hand. Phoebe mouthed to Prue 'Elemental?' to which Prue shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh please." Piper started. "You just pissed off the wrong witches. I liked this sofa." On her nod, the four sprung up, and jumped up, waiting for the perfect moment to jump forwards over the sofa as both of the demons throw their fireballs. The two fireballs collide in mid-air, a ripple of energy flying out from the explosion point, throwing the girls and the demons back, sending them sliding across the floor. Piper, Prue and Phoebe got up quickly, and ran back into the room, making sure the demons stay down, while Oswin ran around behind the other door to the room, and ran in, behind the demons.

"Stay down, right now." Prue threatened, narrowing her eyes. "What do you want?"

"We already made that clear. We want the witch, and we want Vensolin back!" The bigger demon shouted, growling every word.

"Oh, that was her name? Well, no, you can't have her back, because, I love the ability to do this." Oswin stretched out her hands like she did in the attic, and lightning flew out of her hands into the heart of the smaller demon, making him explode into flames and disappear completely. "Oh, I'm going to love that."

"You'll regret that, witch." Said the demon, shimmering out of the room.

"Am I going to be able to do that?" Oswin asked, smiling hopefully. "You know, shimmering?"

"Wouldn't that be a bad sign?" Prue asked, walking over and sitting down on the unburnt couch.

"I wouldn't say so, it's a great way to get around, and if I can control it, that means I'll be able to control the demon inside."

Prue smiled, and wrapped her arm round Oswin's shoulders.

"You know, I think this is really going to work."

"Me too." Oswin said, as the four hugged.


End file.
